Introduction
What are the things which you hope for and dream about? If you could plan your life so that everything works out exactly the way you want, what would that look like? Probably, for most of us it would include lots of good things: having a close friend who really gets you. Being part of a loving family, one where mom and dad are not divorced and where I am valued, welcomed, and respected. Having a job that allows me to afford a nice house and provide for the people that I love. Healthy and well-behaved children, a beautiful wife, a loving husband. A mind that can think clearly without being plagued by depression, a body that is not subject to sickness and decay.
Living in a world that has been ruined by sin, we all hope and dream of something better. Now it is true, most of our hopes and dreams are tainted by our sinful desires, yet the reality of their existence surely points to the fact that we recognize all is not as it should be. A living testimony to the fact that we were made for a perfect world ruled by a perfect king–outside of Eden we long to return.
Amos 9 tells us that God will one day bring about a perfect world. He will raise up his king to rule over his people, and when that day comes it will be beyond anything for which we could ever have hoped. True satisfaction, complete rest, full joy–that is what God promises to all those who trust in him.
The context of Amos’s words
Amos is not a dreamer. He is not someone full of ideals but unaware of reality, someone with lots of stories promising future bliss only so that people will calmly accept their lot in life. Amos knows how deep the problems in society really are and he does not ignore them. He has been calling on the poor, the rich, and the powerful to repent of their sins and be reconciled to God. Time and again he has made it very clear that God expects justice and righteousness from his people and that God hates the way in which the hopes and dreams of some have ruined the lives of others. He will not allow injustice to continue; Israel will be destroyed.
Amos has been preaching this (above) message of judgment to Israel and to us. We have been challenged to see how we are quick to use power and money for selfish ends–how easy it is to substitute religion for relationship with God, establishing our hopes and dreams in a way that ignores him and abuses other people. The first eight chapters of this book have made for some uncomfortable reading—no one likes having their sin pointed out again and again.
Given Amos's speeches of judgment, the hope of chapter 9 is much more wonderful. Amos knows where we stand as a people before God. He is not blind to our failures. Still he makes this promise about a perfect future ruled by a perfect king–there is hope even for the most wicked sinners.
God is going to deal with evil
Explain how Amos 9:1-4 teaches us about God’s dealing with evil
Explain how Amos 9:5-6 teaches us about God’s power and the inescapability of judgment
Explain how Amos 9:7 shows that even Israel will be judged and their privilege will not protect them
Explain why judgment and destruction is necessary as a first step in creating a perfect new world
God will save his elect
Explain how Amos 9:8-10 teaches about the salvation of some (a remnant, those who trust in God and belong to him)
Explain how this remnant can be saved, the coming of Jesus Christ and what he did
Explain how we cannot know when God’s patience will come to an end
God will gather his elect from all nations
Explain the two promises made in Amos 9:11-12
Explain why the inclusion of the nations is such good news
Explain how only those who submit to God’s perfect king will be part of his perfect kingdom
God will create a perfect new world
Explain how Amos 9:13-15 refers to the creation of a perfect new world
Explain what will be so wonderful about this new world
Certainty that these promises can be trusted
Explain how we can be certain that the promises made by God in Amos 9 can be trusted
Explain how Acts 15:13-21 confirms that God will gather his elect from all nations
Conclusion
Come back to the theme of hope and dreams. What difference will it make for us if we put our confidence in the promises of God and life in a new creation?
Apply: being confident in the promises of God should stop us from thinking we must do everything we can to have our best life now. Sure we can make plans for the future, but we do not have to scramble to get our hands on as much money and power as possible. Normally it is exactly those kind of actions that result in a lack of honesty, decency, and concern for others being trampled underfoot. A misplaced hope can quickly serve to make us selfish and rude. Explain what will be so wonderful about this new world.
Apply: if we set our hope on the future that God has planned for us, that should enable us to enjoy the things that God has given without being enslaved by them. Christian hope should motivate us to seek first God and his kingdom–trusting him to care and provide us with everything we need. So if our plans for life do not work out, that is okay–we do not need to cheat, lie, and steal in order to accomplish them. We are pilgrims on the way to our true home. We can be kind, we can be fair, we can work to make justice roll like water and righteousness like an everlasting stream.
Encourage: God is going to make all things right. You are not a fool to put your trust in his Word and build your life on his promises. With our eyes fixed on the certain hope of eternal life in God’s perfect new world, may the Spirit help us to honour God in the week to come, may we seek his kingdom and trust him to provide for us.
1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: “Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people; and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword; not one of them shall flee away; not one of them shall escape.